SMA swim team hoping for all around improvement
The St. Marys Area High School girls’ and boys’ swim and dive teams are looking forward to another successful season in the pool. Emma Leithner returns for her second season as head coach of the squad and her fifth season overall as a coach for the team.
“We are excited to see improvement all around in times, technique, and teamwork,” Leithner said regarding the team’s 2023-2024 season.
Leithner described the 2022-2023 season as having been one that showed the capacity of the team.
“We had multiple top finishers at districts and medals on both girls’ and boys’ relays and individual events. We ended up sending five girls to states in two relays and multiple individual events. The girls’ 200 free relay placed in the top 20. We hope that we can continue that success into this season,” Leithner said.
Looking to this season, Leithner remarked that her team has a lot of potential with experienced swimmers and divers on the squad. Additionally, she noted that a few more boys have joined the team this season.
Members of this year’s boys’ and girls’ swim and dive teams are Patrick Forester, Jason McAnany, Jeff Schaut, James Pistner, Johnny Bandy, Dawson Krug, Ellie Guthridge, Katie Petrosky, Sarah Krise, Sophia Benjamin, Miracle Johnson, Olivia Condon, Lilliana McKay, Lawna Thompson, Maddie Lanzel, Anna Porkolab, and Sophia Condon.
As for the team’s strengths, Leithner cited that they have a lot of returning swimmers and new swimmers with a lot of potential to improve from last season. However, numbers will present a challenge for both squads.
“The depth on the boys’ and girls’ side is lacking, so it will be a challenging season as a team, especially as our competition is getting better and bigger team sizes compared to us,”
Leithner said.
Leithner added that her team has a number of goals they hope to accomplish this season, including sending some members to states, showing improvements in their times and scores, and having members attain personal bests throughout the year.
Leithner encouraged members of the community to come cheer the team on at their meets this season.
“Meets are usually around 6 p.m. and only go about 1.5 hours at the most, with diving at the middle of the meet,” Leithner said. “Swimming captures students from many different schools in the community like Ridgway, ECC, and SMA, so it’s a great opportunity to come watch many different young people set aside their differences working together in a time and individual setting with a lot of excitement throughout. You will also be able to experience the camaraderie between different competing schools.”
Assisting Leithner this season are Mark DeMuro and Doug McAnany. The head diving coach is Maranda Leidwinger.